1 . YOUR ADVENTURES START HERE!
Discover Bangladesh
We are specialists in tours of Bangladesh, a beautiful country still relatively untouched by tourism. Our 27-day tour visits the best attractions in the country for just £ 2,130 per person. There is a maximum of six people in each group. Read travelers’ recent comments on our website and discover how good we are!
Nijhoom Tours (T: 008801758897959)
Explore Japan
Explore Tokyo with its energetic city life and relax in peaceful Kyoto surrounded by temples. In spring, gaze upon graceful Mt. Fuji or find yourself held by breath-taking gold landscape on an autumn adventure. No trip is complete without tasting some of the world’s best cuisine, from delicious fresh sushi to crispy tempura.
Wendy Wu Tours (T:08082781657)
Challenge Yourself in Europe
From reaching the highest mountain sleeping spots on a hut-to-hut journey in the Alps to enjoying a week discovering the Italian Lakes with a spectacular Alpine rail journey included, we have been creating small-group walking, hiking and cycling holidays throughout Europe for over 20 years. Book your exciting tour right now!
KE Adventure Travel ( T :01768773966)
Yukon and Alaska Walk
Canada’s northwestern corner is a vast territory that meets the Arctic Circle and the Arctic Ocean. Homeland of First Nations and Inuit, Yukon is one of North America’s largest remaining wild lands, and a place where the unexpected occurs. We specialize in adventure tours to the Americas, with extraordinary knowledge and experience. Reserve your place on an adventure now from just £ 200.
Grand American Adventures ( T :03330038232 )
1. What is special about Discover Bangladesh?| A．It gives a discount. | B．It is a small-group tour. |
| C．It offers travelers’ comments. | D．Il covers hiking and cycling. |
| A．Explore Japan. | B．Discover Bangladesh, |
| C．Yukon and Alaska Walk. | D．Challenge Yourself in Europe. |
| A．A research paper. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．A nature magazine. | D．A geography textbook. |
2 . A drug designed entirely by artificial intelligence is about to enter clinical human trials for the first time. The drug, which is intended to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder ( OCD)(强迫症),was discovered using Al systems from Oxford-based biotech company Exscientia. While it would usually take around four and a half years to get a drug to this stage of development, Exscientia says that by using the Al tools it's taken less than 12 months.
The drug, known as DSP・1181, was created by using algorithms (算法)to examine potential compounds (化合物),checking them against a huge database of parameters, including a patient's genetic factors. Speaking to the BBC, Exscientia chief executive Professor Andrew Hopkins described the trials as a “ key milestone in drug discovery “ and noted that there are “ billions” of decisions needed to find the right molecules (分子)for a drug, making their eventual creation a “ huge decision. “ With Al, however, “the beauty of the algorithms is that they are unknowable, so can be applied to any disease.”
We've already seen multiple examples of Al being used to diagnose illness and analyze patient data, so using it to engineer drug treatment is an obvious progression of its place in medicine. But the Al - created drugs do bring about some relevant questions. Will patients be comfortable taking medicine designed by a machine? How will these drugs differ from those developed by humans alone? Who will make the rules for the use of Al in drug research? Hopkins and his team hope that these and a great many other questions will be explored in the trials, which will begin in March.
1. What is special about the drug designed by Al?| A．It's a better cure for OCD. |
| B．It has no side effect on humans. |
| C．Its development takes less time. |
| D．It doesn't need clinical human trials. |
| A．Trials. | B．Algorithms. |
| C．Compounds. | D．Molecules. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Puzzled. |
| A．Medical Trials by Al | B．An Example in Medical Trials |
| C．A Creation in Al Development | D．Al - designed Drugs to Be on Trial |
3 . Los Angeles is always a popular holiday destination. To fully enjoy your travel there, you should know its food, weather, and also traffic. While driving in L. A. is similar to that in other areas, there are a few specific rules to note.
HOV lanes (车道)
On many L. A. freeways, one or more lanes at the far left are used as high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. They usually have limited access and you can only enter or exit where there is a break in the double yellow line. Most HOV lanes require a minimum of two people in the car; some require three. Vehicles towing trailers (拖车) are NOT allowed in the HOV lane, regardless of how many people are in them.
Toll (收费) lanes
On certain freeways, the HOV lanes are double-purposed as toll lanes for people driving alone who have a FasTrak, an electronic toll collection system. Therefore, you also have to have one in that lane as a HOV, which is inconvenient if you’re just visiting. FasTrak is in effect on parts of the 110 freeway between the 405 and 10 freeways, and on parts of the 10 freeway east of Downtown L. A.
Cell phones
It is against the law to talk on a cell phone while driving without using a hands-free device. Holding a cell phone to your ear while driving will land you with a ticket.
Alcohol
Driving under the influence is taken seriously in L.A. The legal blood alcohol limit is 0.08%, but you can be charged with lower levels if they show you can’t function normally. Placing an opened bottle of alcohol in the passenger area while driving (or sitting) is illegal. Any opened container of alcohol has to be transported in the trunk.
1. What do you know about HOV lanes?| A．They encourage people to share cars. |
| B．They are on the far right of freeways. |
| C．They are intended for larger vehicles. |
| D．They allow cars to enter over the double yellow line. |
| A．Driving on the 110 freeway with a FasTrak. |
| B．Putting the cell phone in the car while driving. |
| C．Riding with an opened bottle of alcohol in back seats. |
| D．Going below the blood alcohol limit of 0. 08%. |
| A．A traffic law. | B．A road map. |
| C．A guidebook. | D．A report. |
4 . The idea of turning recycled plastic bottles into clothing is not new. During the last five years, a large number of clothing companies, businesses and environmental organizations have started turning plastics into fabric to deal with plastic pollution. But there’s a problem with this method. Research now shows that microfibers could be the biggest source of plastic in the sea.
Dr. Mark Browne in Santa Barbara, California, has been studying plastic pollution and microfibers for 10 years now. He explains that every time synthetic clothes go into a washing machine, a large number of plastic fibers fall off. Most washing machines can’t collect these microfibers. So every time the water gets out of a washing machine, microfibers are entering the sewers and finally end up in the sea.
In 2011, Browne wrote a paper stating that a single piece of synthetic(合成的) clothing can produce more than 1, 900 fibers per wash. Browne collected samples from seawater and freshwater sites around the world, and used a special way to examine each sample. He discovered that every single water sample contained microfibers.
This is bad news for a number of reasons. Plastic can cause harm to sea life when eaten. Studies have also shown that plastic can absorb other pollutants.
Based on this evidence, it may seem surprising that companies and organizations have chosen to turn plastic waste into clothing as an environmental “solution.” Even though the science has been around for a while, Browne explains that he's had a difficult time getting companies to listen. When he asked well-known clothing companies to support Benign by Design-his research project that seeks to get clothes that have a bad effect on humans and the environment out of the market, Browne didn’t get a satisfying answer. Only one women’s clothing company, Eileen Fisher, offered Browne funding.
1. What has happened during the past five years?| A．Fabric has become much stronger. | B．Plastic pollution has been less serious. |
| C．Many plastic bottles have been reused. | D．Microfibers have been greatly improved. |
| A．It is adding microfibers to the clothes. |
| B．It is worsening environmental problems. |
| C．It is making synthetic clothes last longer. |
| D．It is doing great damage to washing machines. |
| A．It has achieved great success. | B．It hasn’t got anything done. |
| C．It is known to very few people. | D．It is facing some difficulties. |
| A．It’s important to learn to recycle |
| B．It’s never easy to solve pollution problems |
| C．Recycled plastic clothing: solution or pollution? |
| D．Are human beings moving forward or backward? |
5 . When Stephen Mills spotted a dusty old safe (保险箱) in a museum in Canada, he thought he’d try to crack the code (破解密码), “just like in the movies”. But when he began turning the dial, he wasn’t expecting a Hollywood ending.
For years, anyone who visited the Vermillion Heritage Museum in Alberta would have passed by a large, black metal box. Staff knew it had come from the long-gone Brunswick hotel and was donated to the museum in the 1990s, but its code and contents remained a mystery for decades — until Mills unexpectedly cracked the code.
Mills, who lived in Fort McMurray, Alberta, was visiting the museum with his family last month over a holiday weekend. As they wandered around the exhibits with the museum guide, Tom Kibblewhite, they spotted the safe.
Kibblewhite told the family what he told all other guests: the 900kg black box with a silver dial had remained closed for generations. For years, the safe has confused volunteers at the museum. The manufacturer was unable to provide advice on how to open its thick door.
A locksmith (锁匠) once suggested that years of inactivity might have slowed down the gears, making it inoperable. But Mills, who is a “mechanically-minded person”, asked whether he could give it a try. “Kibblewhite kept saying no one had opened it and that it was a mystery what was inside,” Mills said. “I thought this would be a great thing to do for a laugh for the kids. Maybe they can find some interesting historical things in it — like a time capsule.”
After pressing his ear against the cool metal, he began spinning the dial. With numbers ranging from zero to 60, he turned clockwise (顺时针方向地) three times to 20, counter-clockwise two times to 40, and then clockwise one time to 60. He was astonished to hear a click. “I jumped up and told everyone I’m buying a lottery ticket (彩票),” he said.
1. What does the underlined sentence in the first paragraph mean?| A．He didn’t think he would open the safe. |
| B．The museum trip was like a Hollywood film. |
| C．He didn’t want to turn the dial in the beginning. |
| D．It was unbelievable for him to win a lottery ticket in the end. |
| A．The dial on the safe was broken. |
| B．It was a donation from a rich businessman. |
| C．It was one of the most valuable exhibits in the museum. |
| D．It has been long closed since it was brought to the museum. |
| A．To tell people how fast time flies. |
| B．To remind visitors of the time limit. |
| C．To indicate the safe’s special meaning. |
| D．To explain the content of the safe. |
| A．Mills won a prize for cracking the code. |
| B．Mills had plenty of luck to break the code. |
| C．Mills knew what the code was in advance. |
| D．Mills tried a dozen times until he cracked the code. |
6 . Do you know an outstanding junior high or senior high school teacher, coach, guidance counselor (辅导员), librarian, or headmaster? Nominate (提名) that special teacher you’ll always remember and give him/her the chance to be recognized in a famous national magazine through “Educator of the Year Contest”!
Prizes
Cash awards will be given to those from across the country who are given the honor of Educator of the Year. Besides, your winning essays will also be published in our magazine.
Guidelines
We will only consider essays written by teens. Nominations must be for junior high or senior high school educators only. Elementary school educators are not suitable.
Convince us your educator is special. Tell us about his or her style of teaching, his or her role in school activities, and community service. What has your educator done for the entire school, for your class, for you or for other students? Tell us some stories about your teacher with specific details. Keep your essay between 200 and 1,000 words. Remember to include the first and last name, position, and school of your educator in your essay.
Don’t forget to submit your essays through our website. You can also read our submission guidelines for more information on this website.
Deadline
The deadline for submitting your essays is December 30. If your essays are accepted, they will appear in our magazine all over the year. Winners will be made public after the January issue is published.
1. What is the purpose of the contest?| A．To make the magazine popular. |
| B．To choose “Educator of the Year”. |
| C．To stress the importance of teachers. |
| D．To encourage people to be teachers. |
| A．Librarians in senior high school. |
| B．Teachers in junior high school. |
| C．Students in junior high school. |
| D．Guidance counselors in senior high school. |
| A．Your teacher’s previous honors. |
| B．The basic information of your school. |
| C．Some examples of your special teacher. |
| D．Your appreciation of your teacher’s hard work. |
7 . Guinness World Records Set by Kids
♦ The youngest club DJ
Oratilwe A J Hongwane likes putting in more efforts when playing music for a crowd. In 2012, he became the youngest club DJ—he was five when he played a one- hour set to 100 people at a bar in South Africa. Known in the business as DJ Arch Jnr, he broke the record previously held by a six-year-old in Japan.
♦The most viewed video game-unboxing video
Kids love watching someone unbox a new purchase—especially if it's something they can't get themselves. Maybe that's why more than 25 million people have watched YouTube HD. What's really cool about Evan is that he actually donates most of the toys to those in need. He also uses his popular YouTube channel to draw people's attention to worthy organizations for helping the poor.
♦The youngest drummer
The rules of Guinness World Records say a drummer must record a real song and be paid for his skills and that the drummer must give at least 20 concerts of 45 minutes or longer within five years. At the age of just four Julian Pavone met all those qualifications.
♦The fastest assembly (组装)of 10,000 Lego pieces and the longest Lego chain
A group of school kids in New Jersey went for their world records to increase public awareness about a fellow student who is suffering from a rare and deadly disease. The group put together 10,000 Lego pieces in just three hours, breaking the old one by five hours. They also set the record for the longest Lego chain, which ended up at 947 meters, beating the old record by 40.
1. Who is devoted to charity?| A．Oratilwe A J Hongwane. | B．Evan. |
| C．DJ Arch Jnr. | D．Julian Pavone. |
| A．He has recorded 20 real songs. |
| B．He gave at least 20 concerts at five. |
| C．He must earn a lot of money by recording. |
| D．He was qualified for the Guiness World Reords at four. |
| A．To help a sick schoolmate. |
| B．To inspire team spirit. |
| C．To prevent a rare disease. |
| D．To make their school famous. |
8 . If you go to any college in the United States, you will find most students carrying the same items：books, laptops, cell phones and their official school identification cards, or IDs. These small plastic cards do more than showing the names and pictures of students.
In recent years, IDs in some colleges can also buy things. The schools enter into agreements with banks so students can link their cards to private financial accounts. This way, students can use their cards to pay for things like food on campus and school supplies. In other words, their IDs become debit cards(借记卡）. However, new research suggests that the way these card programs operate can harm students.
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group(U.S. PIRG) aims to use research to support and protect people's financial interests. The organization has been looking into agreements between colleges and banks for several years.This April, Kaitlyn Vitez, higher education campaign director for U.S. PIRG, released their latest findings."Students with campus debit cards paid over $ 24 million in fees during the last contract year. For example, students may be charged fees if they use another bank to withdraw money. Or, they may be charged fees if they spend more money than they have in their bank accounts , " she said . " Any large fee can create unexpected problems for students , however , banks do not make possible fees clear enough to students."
U.S.PIRG noted that some banks pay colleges for permission to advertise their debit card programs on campus. The advertising can appear to be part of official school programmes and students may feel pushed towards opening accounts.U.S.PIRG also found a connection between colleges with paid agreements and student fees. Students at colleges that received money from banks ended up paying up to 2.3 times more than students at colleges with unpaid agreements. U.S. PIRG contacted several of the colleges in their latest research, yet they seem not to give satisfying comments.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about ?| A．Potential harm of IDs. | B．Additional use of IDs. |
| C．Students consuming habits. | D．Students' financial condition. |
| A．All banks pay for their bank card ads on campus. |
| B．Campus debit cards present high fees for students. |
| C．Many students like to use debit cards at college. |
| D．Colleges have signed illegal agreements with banks. |
| A．Colleges benefit a lot from working with banks. |
| B．Most students fall into heavy debts at college. |
| C．Banks give away students' financial privacy somehow. |
| D．Students lack enough information on their campus debit cards. |
| A．Solutions to the phenomenon. | B．Future of school IDs. |
| C．Details of debit card programs. | D．Response of some schools. |
9 . Thirteen-year-old Madison Williams was studying in her bedroom when Leigh Williams, her mother, told her that a little boy fell into a septic tank(化粪池）and no one could reach him.
Madison and Leigh ran to a neighbor's yard, where they found the boy's worried mother and other adults surrounding the tank opening. It stuck out a few inches above the ground and was 11 inches in width-slightly wider than a basketball-with a hatch(盖子)that had been moved unnoticed. The two-year-old boy had slipped in and was drowning in four feet of waste water inside the eight-feet-deep tank.
Madison surveyed the situation. She was the only one who could fit through the small hole. Without hesitation, she told the adults, "Lower me in. Inside, the tank was dark, and the air was smelly . In the process , she jammed her left wrist against a hidden pole , injuring the muscles in her wrist so severely that the hand was left useless.
Rather than tending to her injury ,Madison tried to feel the underwater boy. Minutes went by before she saw the outline of his foot. Madison shot her good hand out and grasped the foot tightly "Pull me up!" she shouted. Then, ten minutes after Madison had entered the tank, she and the boy were lifted out.
But the boy wasn't out of trouble. He had lacked Oxygen long enough that he wasn't breathing. He was placed on his side, and an adult hit him hard on the back. It was only when Madison heard him cry that she knew he was all right . It took Madison longer to recover than the boy, who was taken to hospital and left hospital that same night .She, however, experienced months of painful treatment, for the injury that she had postponed tending was more severe, which, says neighbor Mary Holley, made the girl's actions all the more impressive.
1. What most likely caused the boy to fall into the septic tank?| A．The tank was very hard to be noticed. |
| B．The boy was curious about the unknown. |
| C．The hatch was not in the correct position. |
| D．The tank opening stood out on the ground. |
| A．The injury to her wrist became worse |
| B．She wasn't sent to hospital in time. |
| C．She paid all her attention to the boy. |
| D．Serious infection set in to her wound. |
| A．Modest. | B．Optimistic. |
| C．Courageous. | D．Hard-working. |
| A．A lucky little boy. | B．A terrible drowning accident. |
| C．A hidden septic tank. | D．An admirable teen hero. |
10 . The Worlds' Best Bookshops
There's nothing like being surrounded by books， wherever you are． Here are the finest oases of literature that travellers can bring you．
Daikanyama T﹣site | Tokyo
It is well worth visiting even if just to admire the building's beautiful， crisscrossed architecture． Once you've had your fill of roaming three floors' worth of bookshelves， there's the bar， the coffee shop， or even the video rental space to give you more reason to stay just that little bit longer． Grab a book， order a beer and dive into its pages． I could have stayed hours here．
City Lights | San Francisco
The three﹣storey establishment publishes and sells titles in poetry， fiction， translation， politics， history and the arts． It hosts events and readings， and runs a non﹣profit of the same name that aims to promote diversity of voices and ideas in literature． It's opposite Vesuvio， a bar frequented by Kerouac and other Beat﹣generation writers and artists．
Shakespeare and Company | Paris
I made a special trip to the Left Bank for this one when I was in Paris． It has two floors packed with English﹣language texts， and I was particularly struck by any spare wall space devoted to notes from visitors ﹣ heartfelt messages to a loved one， dedications to the shop itself， or a quote from a favourite author or philosopher．
Hutatma Chowk | Mumbai
A few years ago I visited India， investigating Rudyard Kipling's connections with the country． I spotted a cheap copy of The Jungle Book on one of the tarp﹣covered book stalls at Hutatma Chowk （Martyrs' Square）． The booksellers here are like amateur librarians， able to lay their hands on almost any title you ask for． To me， those well﹣thumbed （翻旧了的） books spoke volumes about the changes of Mumbai's readers in the 150 years since the city gave us Kipling．
1. In which bookshop can you buy a drink while visiting？| A．Daikanyama T﹣site. |
| B．City Lights. |
| C．Shakespeare and Company. |
| D．Hutatma Chowk. |
| A．People can meet Rudyard Kipling there． |
| B．They sell the cheapest books in the world． |
| C．The book owners are amateur librarians． |
| D．The sellers are familiar with the books． |
| A．They are beautifully designed． |
| B．They are three﹣storey buildings． |
| C．They offer book lovers good experience． |
| D．They are frequently visited by great writers． |
